Defending Your Faith

Good evening

I would like you to look at you neighbor and say I can do all thing things through Christ Jesus.

That was great some of you didn’t even have anyone next to you and still said it.

WELCOME!! YOUR IN FOR A TREAT THIS MORNING!!

Did you know we are in a battle with the devil. So strap yourself in. Turn in your Bibles to Jude 3-4

It is the book before Revelation.

While you are looking that up I want to read a article I found in the Washington Post on prayer

By Rob Stein staff writer

March 24, 2006

It is a study of prayer and how it works, with healings and miracles etc. They took a certain # of sick people with heart conditions and split them up into 2 groups. Group 1 had people praying for them and group 2 did not.

( which group would you want to be in?) I chose a part of the article. It says

The outpouring of spiritual healing has inspired a small group of researchers to attempt to use the tools of modern science to test the power of prayer to cure others. The results have been mixed and highly controversial. Skeptics say the work is a deeply flawed and misguided waste of money that irresponsibly attempts to validate the supernatural with science. And some believers say it is pointless to try to define the working of God with experiments devised by mortals.

It goes on to say that how we interpret this will up to your own point of view.

Interesting huh? Tempting God with mans understanding…. Can you see the attack on our faith in this article.

By now we should have the passage, lets read

Jude 3-4

3 ﻿Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our ﻿common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you ﻿ ﻿contend earnestly for ﻿the faith, which was once for all ﻿handed down to ﻿the ﻿saints.

4 For certain persons have ﻿crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ﻿marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ﻿the grace of our God into ﻿licentiousness and ﻿deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray

Historical background:Vv. 3-4. Wishing to write of the more pleasant letter of salvation, Jude was forced by his concern to write on an urgent and threatening letter.

Circumstances had arisen that demanded immediate action, thus presenting an emergency situation. Jude addressed himself to a recognized problem, and urged the believers to respond with positive action.

See Jude was writing to tell the people of that time to defend your faith. So what does that mean to us? Well??????

Would you believe me if I told you there is a all out attack today on the foundational and fundamental truths of the word of God.

I would hope most of you would say yesssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So for those of you keeping notes I have entitled this:

Defending your faith!!!!!!!!!

On this Sunday before the 4th My goal today is to show you that we are in a war for our very right of religious freedom.

I intend on showing 3 ways to defend your faith.

I pray you are as excited about defending it as I am preaching it. Say are you ready!!!!

As most of you know------

About a year ago a movie came out call (The Divinci Code). Did anyone see it?

Pure blaspheme, lies and deceit. A all out attack on the truth of the bible. The media pushed the movie hard but not too many people heard about the court case over the rights of the book where Dan Brown said under oath in court and I quote “ that the book was purely fiction.

But when the passion of the Christ was being made, No major studio or even smaller studio’s would even touch it.

But they make a movie that tears down Christ and Sony jumps all over it. So us as Christians, What have we done?

Have you stopped buying or using Sony products. Or have you tried to find out who was backing the movie and boycotted their products.

See we never say anything because it’s their choice to say or to believe how the want.

I say this because Christians don’t want to rock the boat or be controversial or be put into a situation to defend your faith. The reason is most of us do not know enough to defend it if we had to. So movies like the Divinci Code could be true, so you start to doubt your faith.

So with that being said lets look at some other faiths;

1. several years ago a cartoonist does a cartoon about Mohammad and the Muslim community started riots and wanted to kill the cartoonist. Do you remember that?

Now I’m not saying that’s right at all but I am just pointing out that other faiths, react to attack over what they believe.

2. Jesus was portrayed as a hippie talk show host on a horrible twisted late night cartoon called South park where kids go around swearing and rebelling against everything, but nobody says a word about it.

3. a so called artist in New York urinates in a jar, drops a crucifix of Christ upside down in it and places it on a pedestal in a art gallery and calls it art so we pay money to see it. and nobody says a word about it.

In our Military, they are trying to make the chaplains stop using the name of Christ or Jesus in prayers or sermon, BECAUSE IT MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE!!!!!!!!!

Our schools are teaching our kids about the theory of evolution. Instead of creation.

The word theory: means a educated guess, never been proven. But the bible give fact after fact after fact and has never been proven wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are being made to be the bad guys because we believe in fact. But to the media we are just a bunch of radicals trying to save people souls from going to Hell.

Well I have some news for you; The problem is not from without, but from within the churches today.

Go with me back to Jude 4

Jude 4

4 For certain persons have ﻿crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ﻿﻿marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ﻿the grace of our God into ﻿licentiousness and ﻿deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We already know that Jude set out to write a encouraging letter about common salvation, but the spirit of God changed his mind and lead him to write about the battle between the forces of evil in this world. Why? Because it was needful to the church. The people needed to know that the Christian life is a battleground not a playground.

Jude used his favorite word He said “they are ungodly men”. He is saying they may look holy and Godly on the outside but in their action and the way they live, they are ungodly men.

He said they were deceitful men. “ they crept in unawares” The Greek means to slip in secretly, to steal in undercover, Sometimes Satan’s undercover agents are brought in secretly.

Jude is having to blow the trumpet to wake up the church because the spiritual leaders of the church had grown careless and complacent. Peter warned us in

2 Peter 2:1

1 But ﻿false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be ﻿ ﻿false teachers ﻿among you, who will ﻿secretly introduce ﻿destructive heresies, even ﻿denying the ﻿Master who ﻿ ﻿bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

The churches did not heed the warning and it’s sad to say but some churches today are not heeding the warnings either.

We see them on TV and or hear them on the radio, changing the word of God to suit there own agenda.

We even see Christian singers teaming up with secular rap and rock stars to do duets.

What do you think happens? We go buy the cd to hear one song, but we must 1st hear 12 or 13 other ungodly songs to hear the one song.

Our faith is under attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We MUST stand up and defend our faith!!!

The same faith that is the only way to God is openly denied by those who profess to be believers.

In:

Jude 11

11 Woe to them! For they have gone ﻿the way of Cain,

I know woe means a lot of things but when it is used in the bible it’s not a good thing.

V12 says these men are hidden reefs

So what happens to a boat that runs up on a hidden reef? It destroys the boats and sinks it. (picture a boat on a reef)

If we do not start defending our faith we too are going sink.

My wife and I were looking up churches on the internet and happen to come across a church called the unity church in down town Pensacola, and it says on the web site, There are many ways to find God, Just pick one that is right for you. Do you see the heresy in that statement?

John 14:6

6. Jesus ﻿said to him, “I am ﻿ ﻿the way, and ﻿the truth, and ﻿the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

No wonder people don’t like Christians, We don’t give them enough Choices,

So what can we do now? How can we fight the good fight today?

Jude 3 says to

contend earnestly for ﻿the faith which was once for all ﻿handed down to ﻿the ﻿saints.

V3 says Earnestly---- Warmly, Zealously, eagerly, with real disre—out of the Noah Webster 1828 American Dictionary of English Language.

By now you should be ready to do something about all this. So here are 3 ways to defend your faith:

I want you to write this down on anything you have , paper, hands ,clothes what ever you can get; ---ready--

1. By living it

2 Cor 5:17

17 Therefore if anyone is ﻿ ﻿in Christ, ﻿﻿he is ﻿a new creature; ﻿the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

There is no greater defense of faith than a life that proves it by living what you profess.!!!!!!!!!!

A changed life demonstrated daily by the actions that others see:

ATTITUDE

BEHAVIOR

HABITS

FORGIVENESS

LOVE

RECONCILIATION

So you can defend it by living it

I know your saying what else can I do well

#2 By Proclaiming it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Romans 1:16

16 For I am not ﻿﻿ashamed of the gospel, for ﻿it is the power of God for salvation to everyone.

Proclaiming the truth will kill error quicker than any other means!!!!!!!!!!

John 8:32 says “The truth will set you free”

Proclaim the word of God with AUTHORITY and not apology???

Hebrews 4:12

12 For ﻿ ﻿the word of God is ﻿living and ﻿active and sharper than any two-edged ﻿sword, and piercing as far as the division of ﻿soul and ﻿﻿spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ﻿ ﻿able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When the word of God is being changed to fit man and his desires, we should stand bolder and proclaim the truth His word even louder!!!!!!!!!

Too many Christians are willing to let other do their thinking

Stand firm in your faith and proclaim boldly gods word, But when you do, this brings me to my 3rd and final point

#3 By paying the price to be misunderstood

Acts 5:41

41 So they went on their way from the presence of the ﻿ ﻿Council, ﻿rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame ﻿for His name.

You will be at war with the world and the world with you.

Christ says that we can not serve 2 master we will love one and hate the other.

We can not ride the fence on this one the time has come to follow Christ or be a follower of the world i.e satan.

Tell personal story of standing in Vince McMahon’s office.

Listen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our forefathers died for their faith

Why can’t we live for ours?

We encounter a little persecution or rejection, even some insults and we are ready to give up.

I’m not talking about be self-righteous or legalistic but a simple daily testimony that we have been born again and have the love Christ in us.

In closing: How much further will we allow the unbeliever and the liberal believer to undermine our faith?

How long will we remain silent and let the cause of Christ take a back seat to unbelief?

And finally how many more people must be lost or deceived before Gods people will….” Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”

Church please listen!!!!

WE NEED TO STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER

AND START FIGHTING FOR EACHOTHER!!!!!

Are you ready take up your cross and fight the good fight

Romans 8:31

If God is for us , who can be against us?

If God is dealing with you now you need to make your choice tonight!!!! If your walk with God has taken a detour, now is the time to get back on the right track. Take your stand and start tonight, WE CAN NOT WIN THIS ALONE WE NEED EACH OTHER WE NEED GOD!!!!!!!

Are you ready to start Defending your faith? Get out of your seat come forward stand firm with each other let the world know that Beaver Creek Baptist Church stands for something, We stand for God. Wait, If you do not know God as your own personal Savior then there is no better time than right now. When the music plays you come you come.